How to Plan Your Weekend in NYC – Sponsored

Spring is in full bloom and summer is just around the corner, which means it’s the perfect time to get away for a weekend. You can’t go wrong spending time in New York City while the weather is warm! If you’re not familiar with the city or you haven’t visited many times, it can feel a little overwhelming planning a trip. There’s so much to see and do, so it’s important to pack in the best things during your weekend getaway! Check out these tips for planning your weekend in NYC.

Things to Keep in Mind

Dinner reservations are important. It isn’t a necessity by any means, but if you know of delicious restaurants you definitely want to try, it will alleviate a lot of stress. If you’re unsure of where you’d like to eat, the OpenTable app for smartphones allows you to search for restaurants, read reviews and make reservations.

Consider staying outside of Manhattan or using Airbnb. While Manhattan does house most of the main attractions, you’ll save a ton of money by staying in another borough like Brooklyn. Plus, you’ll experience a more eclectic perspective of the city! Airbnb can also help make your stay much more affordable whether you choose to stay in Manhattan or a surrounding borough.

Pick a few must-do activities. If you’re only spending a weekend, figure out a few things you need to see and do, and plan the rest around those things. You don’t want to plan for so many things that you end up feeling even more stressed during your vacation than you do during your regular workweek.

Where to Stay

Midtown West. This is a good area to stay for first-time visitors to the city as it’s incredibly central and hosts a lot of well-known attractions. Times Square, the Broadway Theater District and all the way west to the Hudson River are a part of this area. There are familiar restaurants as well, but you may choose to venture further west to eat for less tourist trap locations.

Midtown East. This is a great area to stay if you plan to do a lot of sight-seeing as it’s home to Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Museum of Modern Art, Radio City Music Hall and Grand Central Station. Because this location is such a tourist hub however, it can end up being a bit more on the expensive side.

Brooklyn. This is the perfect alternative to staying in the much more hectic borough of Manhattan. Brooklyn has a trendy, bohemian vibe, and many of the neighborhoods are actually on the waterfront. The area has coffee shops, art galleries, delicious food and beer gardens galore! The subway makes getting to Manhattan much easier, but make sure to find an apartment or hotel near a subway station. While the foot traffic might not be as heavy as in Manhattan, traffic itself is heavy no matter where you are in New York. Be sure to watch where you’re walking incredibly carefully as some of the most common personal injury cases in Brooklyn deal with pedestrian accidents.

What to Do

Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While New York has many museums, the Met is a favorite amongst many. There’s so much to see, and things are always changing so you can visit it countless times and experience completely new things.

See the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty is truly an incredible sight to behold, and you’ll learn so much about immigration to the city through artifacts and photographs at the National Museum of Immigration on Ellis Island.

Spend time in Central Park. New York City is full of incredible skyscrapers and amazing architecture, but amidst it all it’s so great to get a little time in nature. Central Park is the perfect place for a morning stroll or to have a snack in the grass.

There is so much that New York City has to offer, and because of that, you can mold your weekend trip into exactly the vacation you want! Whether that’s with Broadway shows, museums or simply sightseeing, you can’t go wrong. Plan what you can, but give yourself the freedom to be spontaneous!

This post was written by Donna Fitzgerald and provided by our sponsor.